By Terri Ross, Terri Ross Consulting

Prospective patients are buyers who want to know the answer to several questions. What's in it for me? How do your products or services solve or improve my situation? What specific benefits do you deliver or offer? Why should I choose your practice or provider over another? What differentiates you from the competition?

They want emotional reassurance that they are making the right decision to choose you. They typically have some apprehension that something could go wrong, or questions about how good you are or how much experience you have performing the procedure they want.

Creating a clear, consistent message around your unique value proposition and explaining your credentials can take the guesswork out of promoting your practice and get your entire team on the same page and delivering the same message, further enhancing your brand.

The Importance of Credentialing

In a competitive and commoditized marketplace, credentialing is your time to shine. It is your opportunity to display your knowledge, education and expertise, and why patients should trust you and choose you.

Ideally, this should be apparent on your website. The message should be consistent for your staff answering the phones. They should be able to:

• Explain the various services and products you offer;
• Communicate how many years you have been in business, introduce the various providers on your team and describe their level of experience in aesthetics;
• Confidently explain what makes your practice stand out and unique; and
• Tell prospective clients what they can expect when they come to your practice—patients buy experiences, not products or services.

Why Credentialing is Often Overlooked

Sometimes my clients feel awkward credentialing because, in some respects, they feel like they are bragging or they don't want to talk about themselves. Or, they feel like they are too busy to make time for that conversation.

One of the challenges I hear the most consistently when I am conducting sales trainings is, "Terri, we want to do this, but we don't know what to say. We need a script to follow so we can have a consistent message."

That's why I created a step-by-step formula for you to create your own unique value proposition and an exact credentialing script you can tailor to your practice.

Credentialing and Creating your Unique Value Proposition is a tool designed to help market your practice, and you can download it here instantly for only $47.

The Two P's of Credentialing

There are two aspects of credentialing—credentialing your provider and your practice.

Your team should be able to answer the following questions when communicating information to prospective patients about your provider:

• Who will be performing the consultations and treatments? Will it be an MD, NP, PA or RN?
• How many years of experience do they have?
• How many years in aesthetics?
• Have they received any special training—PDO, threads, lasers, butt lift, etc.?
• What range of procedures does the provider perform or specialize in?
• Are they known as a trainer or educator?
• Are they recognized by any manufacturer for their volume?
• Have they been published, or are they a speaker on this procedure?

Your team should be able to answer the following questions when communicating information to prospective patients about your practice:

• How many years has the practice been in business?
• How many providers do you have?
• What is the practice's specialty or specialties?
• Is there anything different or special about the practice's location or environment?
• Is the practice recognized by any manufacturer for its volume (Diamond, Platinum Plus, etc.)?

By knowing the credentials behind your providers and practice, you are forming the basis for your unique value proposition.

As always, I'm here to help you identify opportunities for growth and put the pieces in place that result in increased revenue, long-term patient retention and a more confident team.

Take the first step today by downloading Credentialing and Creating your Unique Value Proposition here. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at terri@terriross.com or call me at (310) 272-5715.

Terri Ross brings more than 20 years of sales and management experience to the field, having worked with leading-edge medical device companies such as Zeltiq, Medicis, EMD Serono, Merck Schering Plough and Indigo Medical, a surgical division of Johnson.

Ross' vast knowledge and experience as a sales director managing upwards of $20M in revenue and successful teams has allowed her to become a renowned plastic surgery management consultant helping aesthetic practices thrive.

To optimize revenues and business performance, Ross' practice management consulting services help physicians evaluate practice processes including, but not limited to, overall-operating efficiencies, staff skill assessment, customer service and operating efficiency strategies. The goal is to develop a comprehensive plan of action to improve productivity, quality, efficiency and return on investment.